UC-NRLF 


THE  NEW 
PHILOSOPHY 


ARTHUR  CRANE 


CO 

o 
o 

in 


o 

>- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


GIFT  OF" 


Class 


, 


THE 

NEW  PHILOSOPHY 


BY 


ARTHUR  CRANE 


1904 

SAN    FRANCISCO,   CAL. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR  FOR 
COMPLIMENTARY  DISTRIBUTION 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE. 

TRUTH  is  not  truth  unless  it  is  truth  to  you.  Inspiration  is 
only  humbug  unless  it  inspires  you.  If  you  can  drop  self-con- 
sciousness long  enough  to  receive  a  message  you  may  be  able 
to  read  your  message  out  of  this  book,  otherwise  this  book 
will  be  worthless  to  you. 

The  word  "Philosophy"  is  used  here  only  in  the  sense  of  the 
new  philosophy  as  defined  all  through,  and  it  has  nothing  to  do 
with  religion  nor  will  it  ever  interfere  with  it.  Philosophy  is 
of  the  Earth  and  is  ignorant  of  the  soul  and  of  those  higher 
matters  which  belong  to  it.  Yet  even  philosophy  may  cost  you 
a  great  price  and  you  must  be  ready  and  WILLING  to  suffer 
if  you  would  begin  its  study.  If  not  so  willing  you  had  better 
heed  this  warning  and  close  this  book  before  you  have  read 
another  line. 

Personally,  I  am,  I  hope,  nobody.  But  if  you  have  any  preju- 
dice against  an  ex-thief,  ex-convict,  ex-murderer,  ex-hangman 
or  hypocrite,  take  this  book  as  coming  from  him — and  if  its 
truth  is  truth  to  you,  it  will  still  reach  you  and  still  inspire 
you. 

Truth  is  not  for  sale.  No  one  can  buy  a  copy  of  this  book 
and  no  one  can  have  it  at  all  unless  he  receives  it  as  an  abso- 
lutely free  gift  and  can  get  a  message  without  feeling  under 
any  obligation  whatever. 

As  long  as  I  can  earn  enough  to  do  so  I  will  send  a  copy  of 
this  book  to  every  applicant  gratis  and  postage  paid.  I  have  a 

iii 


little  ahead  so  that  no  contributions  are  needed  and  probably 
never  will  be. 

This  is  the  only  way  I  can  practice  to  you  that  attitude  of 
unselfish  love  which  takes  its  pleasure  in  giving  more  than  in 
getting.  And  only  those  who  can  understand  that  attitude  will 
believe  that  the  privilege  itself  of  sending  them  of  my  best 
more  than  pays  me,  so  that  they  owe  me  nothing  whatever. 

This  book  is  not  copyrighted  and  anyone  is  very  welcome  to 
copy  as  much  as  they  like  of  it  in  any  paper  or  in  any  way 
whatever,  without  giving  credit. 

Those  needing  special  advice  that  they  think  I  could  be  the 
means  of  giving  them  should  write  me  fully  and  freely,  telling 
me  all  about  themselves.  If  I  then  feel  any  special  message  for 
them  it  will  give  me  supreme  pleasure  to  write  it  to  them. 


iv 


• 
IVERSIT 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ORDER  OF  THE  INFINITE. 

THE  foundation  of  all  things  is  to  be  found  in  the  finest 
essence  of  substance.  That  is  simply  to  say  that  the  order  of 
cause  and  effect  is  that  the  finer,  more  concentrated  force  is  the 
cause  of  all  phenomena  and  that  coarser  things  are  not  causes 
at  all. 

Let  us  examine  this  sweeping  statement  more  closely,  for  if  it 
is  found  to  be  true  it  will  overturn  much  that  troubles  us  in 
our  preconceived  notions. 

In  the  first  place  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  reality  of  things 
is  not  necessarily  identical  with  the  seeming.  Then  it  must  be 
understood  that,  whatever  the  "seeming"  may  be,  the  reality  is 
bound  to  be  in  accord  with  its  cause — as  light,  for  instance, 
cannot  cause  darkness.  Our  eyes  see  wood,  stone,  metal  and 
flesh,  but  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  of  these  to  be  in  itself 
the  fountain  head  of  the  things  we  know  without  the  use  of 
eyes — such  as  consciousness  and  love.  Our  ears  hear  sounds, 
our  fingers  feel  surfaces,  our  palates  taste  sugar,  but  we  know, 
without  being  told,  that  these  are  the  effects  which  our  own 
sense  distinguishes  and  not  causes.  Would  sugar  be  sweet  if 
no  palate  ever  tasted  it  ?  Or  if  all  the  palates  that  ever  existed 
were  so  different  to  those  we  know  that  sugar  tasted  sour  to 
them,  and  had  always  done  so,  would  the  sweetness  of  sugar 
have  any  reality?  Assuredly  not. 

5 


For  the  sake  of  comparison  let  us  assume  that  there  are  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  the  fineness  of  essence  of  substance — by  which 
is  meant  the  reality  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  phenomena. 
Let  us  also  adopt  as  far  as  possible  the  scale  which  scientists 
use  to  express  the  fineness  of  that  essence  in  so  far  as  it  ap- 
plies to  the  reality  behind  electrical  phenomena.  This  scale 
they  call  "voltage." 

The  study  of  matter,  dividing  and  sub-dividing  minute  par- 
ticles to  find  out  what  they  were  really  made  of,  has  led  the 
scientists  to  theoretically  divide  it  into  molecules  and — still 
smaller — atoms.  These  atoms  are  themselves  made  up,  the 
scientists  tell  us,  of  myriads  of  infinitely  small  particles  revolv- 
ing with  more  or  less  rapidity,  and  these  they  call  "electrons" 
or  electrical  units.  Matter,  therefore,  is  according  to  them, 
the  phenomena  which  results  from  the  lowest  voltage  of  the 
essence  of  substance. 

In  electricity  certain  laws  of  voltage  have  been  discovered 
which  should  help  us  to  understand  the  true  inwardness  of  all 
voltage. 

One  is  that  the  higher  the  voltage  the  more  unrestrained  the 
movement  of  the  electricity.  That  which  is  used  for  electric 
light  being  of  higher  voltage  than  that  used  for  a  telephone, 
the  latter  requires  a  larger  wire  for  less  work.  It  does  not 
surprise  us  then  to  learn  from  the  scientists  that  matter  which 
flows  freely,  such  as  gas  and  liquid,  is  supposed  to  be  of  not 
quite  so  low  a  voltage  as  that  which  does  not  do  so,  such  as 
minerals.  Marconi  was  depending  on  this  law  when  he  dis- 
covered that  with  a  very  high  voltage  of  electricity  no  wire  is 
needed  at  all. 

Another  law  well  established  is  that  by  means  of  a  "trans- 
former," a  quantity  of  electricity  at,  say,  100  volts  measure  of 
fineness  of  inherent  energy,  can  be  changed  into  half  the  quan- 
tity at  200  volts  fineness.  Now,  what  is  called  "organic  matter," 
whether  tree,  cabbage,  flesh  or  brain,  is  the  same  thing  as  the 
transformer,  the  object  being  to  transform  the  lower  voltages 

6 


or  vibrations  into  the  higher.  Again  then  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  discovery  should  have  been  made  that  THOUGHT  itself 
is  a  higher  voltage  of  exactly  the  same  thing  as  electricity. 

A  third  law  is  that  wherever  there  is  electricity  of  what- 
ever voltage,  what  is  called  negative  electricity  of  the  same  ap- 
parent voltage  is  induced.  There  is  no  reality  at  all  in  this 
negative  electricity.  It  is  like  a  shadow  which  dodges  the  foot- 
steps of  the  positive  substance.  It  is  like  darkness  which  ever 
lurks  the  blackest  round  the  corner  from  the  brightest  light.  It 
seems  to  exist,  it  seems  to  threaten  and  it  seems  to  attack.  When 
the  positive  voltage  of  real  idea  rises  to  its  sublimest  heights, 
this  negative  seeming  seems  at  its  worst  and  that  is  why  the 
idealist  is  sometimes  also  a  pessimist. 

These  three  laws  are  as  certain  and  as  well  established  as  is 
any  law  of  mathematics,  and  from  them  can  be  gleaned  all  the 
philosophy  necessary  for  the  proper  conduct  of  life. 

As  to  health,  we  can  see  that  to  be  a  transformer  producing 
real  thought  is  normal,  while  to  produce  negative  thoughts — 
thoughts  of  evil  or  discord — could  only  be  expected  to  injure 
or  weaken  the  transformer.  Body  and  brain — so  easily  injured 
in  the  production  of  discord — should  not  be  allowed  to  pro- 
duce a  single  negative  thought.  A  healthy  mind  makes  a 
healthy  body. 

As  to  all  mental  phemonena,  such  as  seeing  a  distant  friend 
at  some  moment  of  great  excitement,  as  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
it  is  obvious  that  such  high  voltage  as  thought  can  travel  as 
readily  a  thousand  miles  as  one.  When  the  human  battery  and 
transformer  gives  off  a  thought-force,  that  subtile  wave  in- 
stantaneously reaches  any  other  individual  mind  attuned  to 
receive  it. 

The  scientific  view  is  that  the  "ion"  or  "electron"  is  the  in- 
finitely small  unit  of  all  that  is,  and  even  of  all  positive 
thought.  Now  as  we  have  seen  that  "evil"  is  only  the  negative 
or  nightmare  of  life,  the  positive  of  life  must  be  good.  There- 
fore, according  to  the  scientific  view,  the  "ion"  is  the  infinitely 


small  unit  of  "good."  Now  that  which  is  infinitely  small  is 
just  as  truly  "infinite"  as  any  other  infinity.  Therefore  the 
mathematical  deduction  is  that  the  cause  of  positive  existence 
is  something  which  can  only  be  properly  described  as  "infinite 
good." 

The  question  of  the  day  is,  "What  is  it  all  for?  What  is 
the  object  of  organic  life?  Why  am  I  here?  Philosophy  an- 
swers this  question  at  the  very  outset.  The  object  of  organic 
life  is  to  transform — to  reach  the  higher  voltages  of  thought, 
to  press  on  to  the  highest. 

A  suggestive  table  of  voltages  might  be  compiled  somewhat 
as  below.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  figures  cannot  ex- 
actly express  the  emergence  from  a  physical  or  selfish  basis  to 
the  unselfish  idea. 

Suggestive  Table  for  Illustration  Only. 
Voltage  of  minerals  =  say  y^nj-  volt. 
Voltage  of  liquids  =  say   -g-^o   volt. 
Voltage  of  telephone  electricity  =  say  2  volts. 
Voltage  of  electric  light  electricity  =  say  200  volts. 
Voltage  of  Marconigrams  =  say  30,000  volts. 
Voltage  of  thought  =  say  500,000  volts. 
Voltage  of  pure  unselfish  love  =  say  infinite  voltage. 

As  in  nature  the  object  of  organic  life  is  to  transform,  so  the 
object  of  mental  life  is  also  to  transform.  We  live  that  our 
minds  may  be  transformed. 

The  highest  voltage  or  finest  vibration  is  an  entity  of  itself 
— highest  thought,  highest  intelligence,  highest  good.  To 
reach  that  high  standard  is  the  object  of  man.  His  aim  is  to 
come  into  touch  and  union  with  the  highest  voltage. 

Following  the  first  law  mentioned  above  that  highest  voltage 
finds  no  resistance  whatever  to  its  immediate  expansion  or  con- 
centration over  any  distance  or  through  any  space.  WTherever 
a  mind  attuned  to  receive  a  greater  or  lesser  quantity  of  the 

8 


highest  voltage  exists,  there  that  quantity  immediately  and 
inevitably  concentrates. 

While  the  whole  of  space  is  the  place  occupied  by  the  radia- 
tions of  the  highest  voltage  yet  it  can  only  concentrate  where 
there  is  a  "receiver,"  or  mind,  in  accord  with  it. 

Test  these  laws  of  voltage  how  you  will.  If  you  know 
anyone  that  seems  ill  try  the  "healthy  mind"  cure.  Point  out 
wherein  he  is  allowing  his  body  to  produce  negative  thoughts 
instead  of  positive,  healthy  ones.  You  will  be  surprised  by  the 
result.  Try  to  be  attuned  to  receive  into  your  mind  more  of  the 
highest  voltage.  Never  mind  the  looming  shadow  of  the  nega- 
tive. You  are  in  the  midst  of  a  world  of  positive  intelligence  and 
might  as  well  have  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  that  high 
voltage. 

The  study  of  philosophy  may  not  at  first  sight  seem  attrac- 
tive. Our  thoughts  are  so  taken  up  with  work  and  play  and 
worry  that  we  seem  to  have  as  much  as  we  can  attend  to  with- 
out studying  philosophy.  If  the  philosophy  however  will  help 
us  in  our  work  and  play  and  do  away  with  the  worry  alto- 
gether it  should  save  time  in  the  long  run. 

Worry  is  the  particular  discord  which  a  knowledge  of  phi- 
losophy cures  first.  Worry  is  the  attempted  transforming  of, 
or  production  of  negative  thoughts.  Worry  is  known  to  kill 
where  hard  work  would  only  brace  one  up.  The  production 
of  negative  thoughts  destroys  the  transformer.  In  order  to 
worry  one  must  forget  the  positive  of  life  and  think  of  the  dis- 
cords ;  forget  the  things  or  thoughts  which  are  good  and  re- 
member circumstances  which  are  not  good.  Worry  is  the 
great  temptation  of  the  day.  We  seem  more  eager  to  turn  to 
the  murders,  war  news,  and  bitter  accusations  contained  in 
our  daily  papers  than  we  are  to  read  the  harmonious  reports  of 
the  advancement  of  science  and  legislation.  The  supply  of 
negative  voltage  seems  ever  ready  to  answer  our  mood  to  the 
full,  giving  us  worry,  spitefulness,  bad  health  and  even  death. 

It  is  within  our  power  to  choose  whether  we  will  entertain 

9 


the  positive  of  life  or  be  victims  of  the  negative.  If  I  choose 
to  think  negative  thoughts  and  thus  serve  negation  I  will  expect 
to  have  the  inevitable  result — worry,  bad  temper,  selfishness,  ill 
health,  beliefs  of  pain  and  danger  and  illusions  without  num- 
ber. If  I  choose  to  ignore  the  "negative  seeming,"  and  pro- 
duce only  thoughts  of  positive  reality  nothing  can  prevent  me 
from  reaping  the  harvest  which  follows  from  adopting  that 
course.  Positive  thought  is,  according  to  the  deductions  of 
science,  good  thought.  Good  thought  leads  to  good  actions 
and  good  being.  To  entertain  the  highest  thoughts  is  to  be 
charged  with  the  highest  voltage  of  the  finest  essence,  which  is 
the  very  spirit  of  existence.  That  is  life,  and  the  stronger  your 
life  the  more  healthy  and  happy  you  will  be. 

In  half  an  hour  you  can  demonstrate  the  absolute  truth  of 
this  philosophy  on  yourself.  There  is  no  unhappy  or  miser- 
able state  of  mind,  whether  it  seems  to  arise  from  outward  cir- 
cumstances or  inward  foreboding,  that  will  not  be  benefited  by 
only  a  half  hour's  effort  to  think  the  positive  good,  instead  of 
allowing  the  negative  thought  to  oppress.  In  like  manner  nega- 
tive thought  will  also  produce  its  effect.  Should  you  desire  a 
toothache,  for  instance,  you  can  get  one  by  trying  for  an  hour 
to  believe  that  pain  in  the  teeth  is  a  positive  force  and  that  you 
have  no  power  to  resist  it.  Also  the  same  effect  will  follow 
a  continuous  consideration  of  animosity  and  deceit,  while  hold- 
ing the  thought  of  your  teeth  in  mind. 

But  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  one  will  use  the  knowledge  of 
philosophy  to  give  himself  pain.  To  banish  pain  is  far  more 
rational,  and  also,  at  least  to  most  of  us,  more  agreeable.  There 
is  surely  no  need  to  prove  the  seeming  power  of  negative 
thought  when  the  real  power  of  positive  thought  can  be  so  easily 
demonstrated. 

Restlessness  is  a  negative  suggestion.  It  cannot  attack  any- 
one whose  mind  is  filled  with  thoughts  of  the  positive  good. 
Fever,  in  energy,  in  brain,  or  in  body,  can  be  banished  by  the 
restful  thought  of  the  good  reality.  To  thoroughly  rest  in  the 

10 


knowledge  of  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  forces  of  the  uni- 
verse takes  away  all  fear  and  foreboding  care. 

A  trial  of  the  system  of  thought  here  advocated  will  show 
you  how  to  obtain  all  your  desires,  but  not  altogether  in  the 
way  you  now  feel  anxious  for.  What  you  feel  you  want  now 
is  not  so  important  for  you  to  have  by  to-morrow  as  is  the 
thing  you  will  then  want.  Philosophy  changes  your  wants  as 
well  as  influences  events,  so  that  the  two  things  seem  to  ap- 
proach one  another.  Thinking  positive  thoughts  will  gradu- 
ally get  you  your  every  desire,  as  you  enjoy  the  knowledge  of 
the  good  and  beautiful  more  and  more. 

The  inheritance  of  a  philosophic  mind  is  a  great  one,  com- 
prising all  real  happiness ;  and  it  can  be  entered  into  at  once. 


II 


CHAPTER   II. 

MAN'S  PLACE  AND  POWER. 

ANALYZING  the  general  scheme  of  the  universe,  the  student 
divides  it  into  two  factors — force  or  principle,  and  entity.  The 
force  is  the  principle  that  applies  and  the  entity  is  that  to  which, 
and  through  which,  it  applies.  The  principle  is  the  life  and  the 
entity  is  that  which  has  life. 

Now  in  a  larger  sense  than  bodily  life,  the  system  of  the 
universe  has  life.  Every  particle  is  animated  by  that  mys- 
terious voltage  called  life  and  man  is  the  culmination  or  apex 
of  the  whole  grand  living  entity.  This  dual  nature  of  the  uni- 
verse brings  out  the  fact  that  man  is  not  subject  to  anything 
except  life  or  principle.  He  can  imagine  himself  individually 
to  be  a  subject  of  that  wicked  fairy  king  known  by  the  alterna- 
tive names  of  "Bad  Luck,"  "Misfortune,"  "Trouble,"  "Doubt," 
"Pain"  and  "Evil."  But  there  is  nothing  really  existing  in  the 
universe  except  entity  and  principle.  These  are  positive  and 
therefore  good.  Entity  cannot  be  subject  to  anything  except 
principle,  and  therefore  man  cannot  really  be  the  slave  of  the 
aforesaid  wicked  king.  For  years  men  have  been  educating 
their  senses  to  believe  in  this  wicked  king  and  it  may  be  some 
time  before  we  all  see  what  a  silly  and  useless  thing  this  con- 
stant service  at  his  shrine  has  been. 

Man  is  free.  He  is  master  of  the  world  and  all  the  works  of 
nature.  He  cannot  be  subject  to  any  evil. 

12 


Imagine  a  stranger  to  the  Earth  beginning  to  study.  He 
would  first  of  all  recognize  the  dual  nature  of  the  universe. 
The  words  in  which  he  would  express  this  dual  nature  might 
be  those  of  any  one  of  the  following  pairs :  matter  and  motion ; 
substance  and  force;  entity  and  principle;  being  and  action; 
man  and  life.  However  expressed  the  larger  meaning  would 
be  the  same  and  would  seem  to  our  stranger  a  very  simple 
and  reasonable  division  of  the  universe.  If  "evil"  were  then 
mentioned  to  him  and  he  asked  to  which  of  these  divisions 
it  belonged,  we  should  be  unable  to  answer  him.  It  does  not 
belong  to  entity,  because  entity  without  motion  or  principle 
would  be  perfectly  passive  and  incapable  of  any  quality 
whatever,  good  or  bad.  It  certainly  does  not  belong  to  prin- 
ciple, because  principle  is  positive  only  and  therefore  good 
only.  Our  stranger  would  then  find  it  hard  to  believe  that 
there  was  a  real  thing  called  evil.  He  would  believe  men  had  a 
sense  of  pain  or  evil,  but  he  would  think  that  (except  to  that 
human  sense)  there  was  really  no  such  thing. 

Evil,  pain,  trouble,  and  doubt  are  very  real  to  appearances, 
but  what  or  where  are  they  except  a  concept  of  and  in  the 
human  mind?  Does  not  the  fact  that  they  do  not  belong  to 
either  branch  of  the  general  scheme  of  things  prove  that  they 
are  nowhere  except  in  this  concept?  If  one  thinks  that  it  is 
more  sane  to  entertain  this  concept  of  pain  than  not  to  he  is 
free  to  follow  his  own  standard  of  sanity.  If  he  says  that  he 
would  be  glad  enough  not  to  believe  in  pain,  but  unfortunately 
it  intrudes  itself  upon  him  against  his  will,  he  is  then  suggest- 
ing that  man  is  the  subject  and  minion  of  that  which  is  neither 
matter  nor  motion,  substance  nor  force,  entity  nor  principle, 
being  nor  action,  man  nor  life. 

Each  one  now  thinks  for  himself.  All  the  universities  and 
all  the  traditions  can  never  make  him  believe  that  which  is  abso- 
lutely unreasonable.  He  can  swallow  a  pill,  but  he  cannot 
swallow  the  greatly  advertised  and  widely  flaunted  statement 
that  that  pill  will  have  an  effect  which  would  virtually  amount 

13 


to  an  influence  over  his  mind.  He  may  believe  that  the  sense 
of  suffering  is  located  in  his  mind,  but  he  is  beginning  to  in- 
quire for  himself  as  to  whether  pills  and  drugs  can  reach  that 
mind. 

Our  newspapers  are  full  of  remedies  which  we  are  told  have 
power  over  man  and  his  diseases — curealls  which  would  set 
themselves  up  as  rulers  over  man  to  the  extent  that  they  claim 
to  be  able  to  affect  the  sense  of  discord  in  his  mind.  If  the  least 
good  in  the  world  could  be  obtained  from  these  so-called  reme- 
dies there  would  be  some  wisdom  in  relying  on  them.  We 
have  seen,  however,  that  disease  is  a  concept  of  mind,  and 
therefore  the  humiliating  process  of  pill-swallowing — taking  a 
nasty  dose  with  a  sugar  veneer  in  order  that  one's  mind  may 
be  purified  of  its  concept  of  disease — is  merely  silly. 

The  great  fact  is  that  mind  is  not  subject  to  matter.  Man 
is  not  the  puppet  of  the  imaginative  writer  of  pill  advertise- 
ments. In  thirty  minutes  you  can  prove  that  healthy  thought 
makes  healthy  mind  and  healthy  mind  makes  healthy  body. 
Let  those  who  depend  on  pills  show  what  they  can  do!  Let 
them  produce  in  thirty  minutes  or  in  thirty  years  a  single 
healthy  mind  in  a  healthy  body  made  so  by  depending  on  their 
nostrums !  The  hospitals  and  cemeteries  are  full  of  their  fail- 
ures, but  where  is  even  one  success  ? 

Man's  inheritance  is  not  sickness.  He  is  born  with  a  bias  in 
favor  of  health.  It  is  impossible  that  in  any  real  scheme  of 
things  in  this  just  universe  should  be  found  a  law  of  malig- 
nant heredity.  That  we  find  such  a  law  in  the  human  concept 
of  things  does  not  prove  that  the  law  exists.  The  human  con- 
cept is  not  infallible.  In  fact  it  has  often  turned  out  to  be  posi- 
tively misleading.  Each  of  the  fallacies  that  mankind  has  grown 
out  of  was,  in  its  day,  the  standard  human  concept,  and  we, 
to-day,  are  growing  out  of  the  hide-bound,  cut-and-dried  con- 
cepts of  the  immediate  past. 

What  then  is  man's  birthright?  Has  he  power  to  rise  above 
material  circumstances  and  traditional  thought  ?  Has  he  power 

14 


to  conquer  fear?  A  clear  view  of  the  inevitable  logic  of  the 
situation  will  answer  both  these  questions  in  the  affirmative. 
It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  mind  could  be  kept  under  the 
heel  of  matter  or  if  thought  could  be  chained  by  tradition.  It 
would  be  strange  if  a  narrow  selfish  thought  should  prove  more 
powerful  than  a  broader  thought  in  sympathy  with  the  real 
forces  and  the  positive  voltage  around  us. 

Man's  birthright  is  the  tendency  to  grow,  harmoniously, 
fearlessly.  There  is  no  irresistible  compulsion  that  he  shall 
submit  to  disease,  worry,  or  annoying  habits.  He  is  destined 
to  conquer  the  so-called  forces  of  nature  and  reign  supreme 
over  every  material  circumstance.  Above  all,  he  can  have  a 
tranquillity  and  happiness  of  mind,  so  that  his  pleasure  does  not 
depend  upon  external  circumstances,  but  is  within. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OF   HARMONY. 

THE  ideal  state  for  a  man  to  be  in  is  a  state  of  happiness 
not  dependent  on  outward  conditions.  The  man  who  is  in  that 
happy  state  is  not  influenced  by  surrounding  opinion,  he  has 
no  bitter  thoughts  against  others,  and  he  does  not  plan  any- 
thing that  can  cause  unpleasantness  or  loss  to  others.  His 
mind  dwells  in  harmony  and  he  is  continually  finding  out  new 
phases  of  the  law  of  harmony.  This  is  his  desire.  His  dream 
of  harmony  is  more  pleasant  than  sleep,  and  he  is  thankful  for 
every  waking  moment  day  or  night. 

Selfish  thoughts  are  not  so  sweet  and  any  man  afflicted  with 
them  is  glad  enough  to  lose  consciousness  in  sleep.  But  such 
thoughts  are  not  really  lasting  and  will  hardly  even  bear  ex- 
amination before  they  are  found  to  have  vanished. 

Why  do  selfish  thoughts  come  so  much  into  evidence,  mak- 
ing us  imagine  all  kinds  of  illusions?  One  would  think  that 
the  negative  forces  were  consciously  arrayed  against  any  mani- 
festation of  the  real  truth.  But  deep  down  in  the  heart  no  man 
can  doubt  that  harmony  even  now  prevails  supreme  and  that 
any  blindness  to  its  existence  and  beauty  can  only  be  temporary. 

Where  can  we  go  to  really  get  away  from  harmony?  On 
earth  the  beauty  which  some  can  always  see — in  the  glad  sun- 
shine, the  fresh  rain  or  the  free  wind — teach  the  waiting  heart 

16 


more  of  the  law  of  harmony.  In  cities  all  kinds  of  enterprise 
fit  in  with  all  kinds  of  labor  in  a  system.  The  harmony  of  that 
system  may  need  to  be  developed,  but  the  law  of  that  harmony 
is  there  waiting  for  that  development. 

If  we  go  up  in  a  balloon  or  dive  in  the  sea,  the  beauty  of 
clouds  and  sunshine,  the  perfect  forms  of  nature  prove  that 
always,  everywhere,  this  law  is  in  force,  harmony,  harmony, 
harmony.  This  is  the  positive  law  of  existence,  the  law  of  all 
laws,  and  any  supposed  law  of  inharmony  is  no  real  law  at  all. 

Harmony  is  our  gardian  angel  and  exempts  us  from  the  sup- 
posed law  of  poverty.  It  leads  our  thoughts  into  pleasant  places, 
by  cosy  firesides  and  amid  cheerful  companionships.  It  gives 
fresh  vigor  and  strength.  It  shows  us  the  paths  of  life  and 
makes  them  easy  to  our  feet.  Even  though  sorrow  and  suf- 
fering come  upon  us,  the  law  of  harmony  buoys  us  up,  and 
when  threatened  with  death  we  become  fearless,  knowing  the 
reality  of  that  law.  Harmony  in  our  hearts  gives  us  every- 
thing, even  when  face  to  face  with  outward  inharmonies.  It 
makes  us  comfortable  in  the  midst  of  discomforts  and  fills  the 
measure  of  human  happiness  to  overflowing.  Nothing  is  more 
certain  than  that  steps  of  harmony  are  steps  to  the  delight  that 
lasts  continuously,  and  in  that  happy  frame  of  mind  there  is 
quiet  enjoyment  for  each  one  forever. 

What  a  bright  vision  is  a  glimpse  of  true  harmony !  Aston- 
ishing in  its  very  simplicity,  and  yet  dazzling  in  its  grandeur! 
Look  up  at  the  stars  or  upon  the  universe  and  admire !  Every 
thought  produced  by  the  knowledge  of  the  infinitely  great  or 
the  infinitely  small  is  a  thought  of  harmony  and  admiration. 
But  selfish  thoughts,  which  produce  a  sense  of  inharmony,  have 
no  place  in  the  great  or  in  the  small.  When  we  study  the  sky, 
the  earth,  or  the  sea  we  learn  everywhere  of  the  greatness  and 
high  calling  of  man,  the  central  idea  of  the  whole.  Not  the 
selfish  part  of  man  which  is  often  cross,  weary,  exasperated  and 
discouraged,  but  the  true  man  whose  idea  is  a  harmonious  one, 
whose  fancy  takes  him  through  the  air  with  the  speed  of  a 

17 


bird,  whose  buoyant  heart  lifts  him  above  earth's  troubles,  and 
whose  strength  is  born  of  courage. 

He  that  entertains  the  thought  of  harmony  continually  shall 
be  happiness  to  himself  and  others  all  the  time.  He  shall  not 
be  afraid  of  outside  dangers  because  his  treasure  is  within. 
Error  and  wrong  will  continue  to  destroy  and  utter  curses  and 
insults,  but  the  destruction  shall  not  affect  you  nor  the  curses 
curse  you,  nor  the  insults  insult  you  if  your  thought  is  still  the 
harmonious  one.  By  day  your  strength  shall  grow,  by  night 
your  knowledge.  Higher  and  higher  thoughts  will  point  up- 
ward to  a  better  realization  of  the  law  of  harmony  from  which 
even  the  very  sense  of  the  incongruous  shall  fade  away. 

Because  you  fix  your  mind  on  harmony  you  cease  to  be  a 
servant  of  inharmony.  Because  you  entertain  only  harmonious 
thoughts  you  live  in  accordance  with  that  law.  Then  personal 
things  do  not  matter,  and  personalities  cease  to  be  real  to  you. 
Then  you  know  the  true  idea  of  all  things  and  are  no  longer 
deluded  with  the  seeming. 

What  shall  we  think  of  the  law  of  harmony  ?  It  is  our  ever- 
ready  refuge  from  Self,  and  Self  is  one's  only  enemy.  Har- 
mony is  working  everywhere,  and  we  cannot  fail  of  putting  our- 
selves under  its  activity. 

The  sweetest  strains  that  the  greatest  musicians  ever  com- 
posed were  not  reduced  to  notes  and  bars.  These  men  had  har- 
mony in  their  hearts  long  before  they  reduced  it  to  writing,  and 
the  highest  conceptions  are  not  those  which  are  soonest  trans- 
lated into  conscious  sounds.  So  may  we  have  our  hearts  full 
and  overflowing  with  real  song,  although  we  may  not  be  able  to 
utter  aloud  a  single  note.  That  song  in  the  heart  is  for  all,  and 
all  will  sooner  or  later  sing  it.  It  will  awaken  mankind  to  that 
life  which  has  been  the  longing  dream  of  the  ages. 


18 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  USE  OF  UNDERSTANDING. 

A  GREAT  step  in  life  is  to  become  more  intelligent — to  be  more 
in  touch  with  the  all-pervading  great  intelligence  which  is  the 
highest  power,  or  finest  quality,  of  substance — to  replace  human 
intelligence  with  the  simple  reflection  of  infinite  wisdom. 

The  more  a  man  really  knows  the  more  eager  he  will  be  to 
attain  to  a  still  higher  understanding. 

The  first  step  toward  intelligence  is  independence  of  thought. 
Anyone  can  say  "yes" ;  the  great  thing  is  to  say  "no"  to  every 
thought  that  is  not  your  thought,  even  though  it  be  suggested 
by  that  authority  you  have  been  most  accustomed  to  respect. 

The  air  is  full  of  independence ;  any  one  may  receive  it  into  his 
heart.  Every  circumstance  of  life  teaches  it.  Every  calamity 
and  misfortune  drives  home  the  lesson  that  the  principle  of  in- 
telligence will  not  be  lightly  disregarded  by  those  who  have  not 
the  independence  to  use  it.  It  is  the  lack  of  an  independent 
spirit  which  allows  men  to  fall  into  slavery  to  false  opinions, 
disease  and  crime. 

Advancing  along  the  path  toward  perfect  intelligence  is  prac- 
tical enjoyment.  Every  particle  of  new  understanding  is  of 
greater  than  money  value.  Intelligence,  which  fills  the  Uni- 
verse, holds  in  the  principle  of  its  existence  as  a  child  is  held 
in  loving  arms,  those  who  spend  their  lives  seeking  for  true 
knowledge.  That  knowledge,  when  found,  will  prove  to  be  not 
only  satisfying,  but  delightfully  so. 

19 


The  independent  inquirer  discovers  to  his  surprise  that  even 
moral  and  ethical  lessons  can  only  be  learned  by  hard  study  or 
by  sorrow.  Ethical  truth  is  then  found  to  be  no  mystery,  but 
only  a  more  advanced  form  of  mathematics  or  geometry,  so 
that  the  more  we  learn  the  more  we  want  to  learn,  and  our  path 
onward  becomes  emblazoned  with  more  light  at  every  step. 

Reason  is  a  servant  of  man.  A  man  is  further  advanced  in 
the  great  highway  of  life  than  an  unreasoning  brute.  That 
man  who  always  uses  his  reason  is  further  on  than  he  who 
from  time  to  time  allows  his  lower  passions  to  get  the  mastery. 
Reason  is  called  "cold,"  and  he  who  only  drinks  when  he  is 
thirsty  may  not  be  such  a  "good  fellow"  to  some  as  if  he  were 
weaker  and  more  passionate ;  but  to  use  his  reason  will  be  bet- 
ter, not  only  from  that  individual's  point  of  view,  but  also  from 
the  point  of  view  of  others,  if  it  keeps  him  calm,  sober  and 
pure. 

In  the  law  courts,  the  legislative  and  administrative  halls,  and 
wherever  men  are  placed  in  positions  of  great  trust  and  honor 
intelligence  holds  sway.  That  the  most  intelligent  men  are  put 
in  the  best  places  is  a  general  truism,  in  spite  of  individual 
exceptions.  Without  intelligence  great  estates  are  soon  lost, 
and  large  fortunes  are  dissipated.  Intelligence  teaches,  first, 
independence;  second,  morality;  third,  diligence,  and  fourth, 
unselfishness. 

Intelligence  should  be  sought  for  in  the  company  of  those 
whom  you  consider  more  intelligent  than  yourself,  and  as  you 
learn  humility,  so  the  number  of  those  who  can  thus  help  you 
increases.  Be  willing  to  learn  from  all.  One  sometimes  feels 
a  kind  of  resentment  against  a  younger  person  who  tells  him 
something  he  did  not  know  before,  but  that  resentment  is  an 
undesirable  kind  of  pride  which  sooner  or  later  will  leave. 

What  is  your  life?  Is  it  not  the  degree  in  which  you  come 
into  touch  with  the  Infinite  Intelligence  ?  If  that  degree  can  be 
increased  you  will  find  you  have  an  increased  measure  of  con- 
sciousness and  increased  life. 

20 


When  a  man  fails  in  business  he  may  ascribe  it  to  bad  luck, 
but  a  little  more  intelligence  would  have  saved  him.  Crime  and 
strife  are  both  caused  by  lack  of  intelligence.  Shame,  sorrow, 
and  even  sickness  are  direct  results  of  this  lack,  and  there  is 
no  other  path  for  their  cure  except  the  path  of  understanding. 

There  is  perfect  safety  in  intelligence.  Intelligence  in  out- 
ward poverty  and  danger  is  a  safer  existence  than  folly  in 
palaces,  or  stupidity  in  circumstances  of  outward  peace  and 
wealth.  Strength  also  is  found  in  intelligence. 

This  we  have  been  taught  even  in  the  nursery.  Happy  is 
the  child  who  knows  the  lesson  of  "Jack  the  Giant  Killer" ! 
Happy  the  man  who  sees  in  intelligence  a  finer  strength  than 
there  is  in  force,  a  truer  pleasure  than  can  be  got  out  of  self- 
gratification  and  a  safer  safety  than  any  outward  refuge,  cau- 
tion or  insurance  can  yield! 

The  seeker  for  intelligence  has  a  finer  joy  of  pursuit  than  the 
hunter  of  game.  His  life  is  a  growing  happiness  to  himself  and 
others.  Such  a  man  cannot  be  disappointed  or  discouraged 
because  he  never  finds  that  the  prize  he  longed  for  is  worthless 
when  obtained.  Poor  or  rich,  famous  or  forgotten,  esteemed  or 
despised,  his  pursuit  of  knowledge  goes  steadily  on,  every  step 
gained  a  joy;  every  advance  opening  up  fresh  vistas  of  undis- 
covered country. 


21 


CHAPTER  V. 

UNSELFISHNESS. 

A  SELFISH  motive  takes  away  all  the  grace  of  an  otherwise 
good  act.  Self  seeks  to  benefit  but  all  its  hopes  must  prove 
illusory  because,  as  we  shall  see,  no  gain  or  achievement,  be- 
hind which  lies  the  selfish  motive,  can  be  of  the  smallest  real 
value. 

When  the  study  of  philosophy  is  suggested  Self  begins  to 
plan  how  to  benefit  by  that  study.  The  knowledge  that  there 
is  only  one  reality  behind  all  phenomena  gives  Self  an  opportu- 
nity to  suggest  that  base  metal  might  be  turned  into  gold,  and 
that  stones  might  be  made  bread.  But  though  you  had  all 
wealth  you  would,  if  you  were  dominated  by  a  selfish  heart,  find 
yourself  poor  in  reality.  If  man  only  required  gold,  or  if  you 
could  benefit  mankind  by  even  turning  the  whole  world  into 
gold  (or  bread),  that  would  be  a  noble  object  for  philosophy 
to  strive  for.  But  that  would  not  really  benefit  man.  Looked 
at  from  every  possible  point  of  view  the  logical  end  of  philos- 
ophy is  unselfishness.  The  most  eloquent  argument  gives  but 
a  hollow  sound  if  it  comes  from  a  selfish  heart.  The  most  cor- 
rect behavior,  the  most  earnest  work,  are  cold  and  worthless 
if  inspired  by  a  selfish  motive. 

Selfishness  promises  great  things — power  and  wealth  and 
esteem.  Unselfish  love  promises  not  at  all.  But  it  is  in  itself 

22 


the  only  power  in  the  Universe  and  the  only  wealth  worth 
having. 

The  worth  of  a  man  lies  not  in  his  words,  nor  altogether  in 
his  acts,  but  in  his  motive.  The  test  is  whether  the  motive  be 
hard  and  selfish  or  unselfish  and  loving.  The  unselfish  man  will 
not  be  proud,  but  will  be  more  eager  to  uphold  the  reputation  of 
others  than  his  own. 

Many  good  men  puzzle  themselves  over  the  problem  of  how 
to  live  the  golden  rule  amid  the  selfishness  of  others,  without 
losing  all  that  they  hold  most  dear.  The  problem  is  solved 
when  it  is  seen  that  a  study  of  philosophy  brings  man  into 
touch  with  the  great  reality,  and  that  he  then  no  longer  holds 
dear  the  things  of  which  unselfish  love  would  deprive  him. 

Unselfishness  is  simple ;  selfishness  is  complex.  Love  simpli- 
fies existence,  hate  complicates  it.  Unselfishness  does  not  im- 
pute evil  motives  to  others.  It  gives  patience  and  grace  to  all 
our  relationships. 

Worldly  wisdom  teaches  us  to  fight  for  our  rights  to  the  last 
ditch — to  spend  all  we  have  to  defeat  what  we  consider  a 
wrongful  claim  rather  than  yield  to  anything  whatever.  But 
philosophy  teaches  us  not  to  quarrel  over  the  shadow — but  to 
let  those  have  it  who  seem  to  want  it — while  we  make  sure 
of  the  reality.  You  can  afford  to  let  them  plunder,  rob,  slander 
and  insult  you,  if  you  have  something  which  is  really  of  a  great 
deal  more  value  than  all  their  smiles,  good  reports  or  money. 
What  is  that  something?  It  is  the  only  real  force  that  can  be 
exercised  in  life,  in  work,  or  in  the  Universe. 

Worldly  wisdom  teaches  us  to  hate  those  who  hate  us  and 
return  at  least  as  much  spite  as  we  receive.  If  we  are  known  to 
be  spiteful  to  those  who  deserve  it,  people  will  let  us  alone. 
But  philosophy  shows  us  how  to  conquer  by  love,  at  once,  with- 
out taking  the  time  and  trouble  to  build  up  a  self -protective 
reputation.  The  way  is  to  conquer  yourself  first.  Mr.  Theo- 
dore Seward,  of  New  York,  is  the  authority  for  the  statement 
that  one  who  had  gained  the  power  of  self-mastery,  meeting  a 

23 


tiger  in  the  jungle,  stood  facing  the  animal  till  it  turned  away 
and  slunk  into  the  thicket.  When  asked  how  he  was  able  to 
exert  such  control,  he  replied,  " Because  I  have  conquered  the 
tiger  in  my  own  nature." 

The  treasures  of  selfishness  are  unreliable.  After  many 
years  of  selfish  toil  we  may  become  possessed  of  what  we  have 
desired  for  ourselves.  It  may  be  wealth,  fame,  or  opportunity 
for  self-gratification.  Can  any  of  these  be  relied  upon?  Can 
Wealth?  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  sudden  wealth  rarely 
brings  happiness  and  is  frequently  lost  again.  Can  Fame? 
Every  one  knows  that  it  can  not.  Through  no  fault  of  his 
own  a  great  statesman  may  lose  an  election  and  retire  in  com- 
parative disgrace,  who  only  the  day  before  was  one  of  the 
most  honored  of  men.  Again  it  might  be  asked  if  self-gratifi- 
cation is  not  reliable.  But  who  has  not  found  that  the  apple 
of  self-indulgence  turns  to  ashes  in  the  mouth?  Sweets  cloy, 
play  tires  more  than  work  does,  amusement,  more  than  study, 
gives  headaches. 

But  the  treasures  of  philosophy  cannot  be  stolen  from  you, 
do  not  disappoint  you,  are  not  subject  to  the  fancy  of  the  voters 
at  an  election,  and  they  never,  never  cloy. 

A  selfish  man  can  not  exercise  the  power  of  unselfishness 
He  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  that — it  is  not  wilful  selfishness  but 
sheer  inability  to  exercise  this  wonderful  power.  It  may  take 
years  of  the  study  of  philosophy  before  he  can  even  understand 
unselfishness,  or  it  may  come  upon  him  in  a  sudden  "awaken- 
ing," but  when  he  does  understand  it  he  will  find  himself  hold- 
ing in  his  hands  the  reins  of  real  power. 

For  this  reason  all  worry  about  to-morrow's  needs  for  self 
is  a  waste  of  time  and  totally  unnecessary.  A  knowledge  of 
philosophy  will  enable  you  to  exercise  the  power  of  unselfish- 
ness which  will  overcome  every  obstacle. 

We  are  sometimes  tempted  to  criticise  others,  but  let  us  not 
do  it  without  knowledge.  A  French  proverb  is  translated: 
"To  know  all  is  to  forgive  all."  There  is  a  danger  that  we  may, 

24 


so  to  speak,  put  on  green  spectacles,  and  then  imagine  the 
whole  world  green.  Others'  faults  are  generally  first  dis- 
covered by  those  who  have  a  thin  film  of  similar  faults  over 
their  eyes  and  see  their  friends  through  it  tinged  with  those 
colors.  Let  us  cleanse  our  own  selves  before  we  put  our 
friends  through  the  mangle.  It  is  never  our  unselfish  love 
which  finds  fault  with  friends. 

If  a  charitable  disposition  be  a  desirable  acquisition,  how 
should  we  go  about  it  to  acquire  such  a  frame  of  mind  ?  The 
first  point  is  to  thoroughly  realize  that  it  is  desirable.  If  you 
think  it  the  acquisition  most  worth  wishing  for  you  will  long 
for  it  every  waking  hour  and  seek  it  everywhere.  Then  you 
will  find  yourself  growing  into  it,  for  growth  in  the  direction  of 
desire  is  the  law  of  nature.  Then  the  knowledge  that  we  are 
each  a  part  of  one  another  will  show  us  that  the  service  of 
others  is  our  destiny  as  soon  as  we  have  given  up  the  service 
of  self. 

Another  point  is  to  try  and  see  things  from  the  standpoint  of 
others  before  coming  to  an  opinion.  This  is  a  good  rule  from 
many  points  of  view,  but  it  is  a  little  trouble  at  first  and  so  is 
not  adopted  by  people  who  are  inclined  to  think  they  have  quite 
enough  trouble  already.  Shirking  trouble  and  seeking  ease 
and  amusement  will  not,  however,  improve  your  disposition. 
Trouble  shirked  is  trouble  magnified,  whereas  to  look  it  in  the 
face  will  often  banish  it  altogether.  In  this  connection  the  fol- 
lowing verses  will  bear  repeating : 

There  came  a  giant  to  my  door, 

A  giant  fierce  and  strong. 
His  step  was  heavy  on  the  floor, 
His  arms  were  ten  yards  long ! 

He  scowled,  he  frowned,  he  shook  the  ground. 

I  trembled  through  and  through ! 
At  length  I  looked  him  in  the  face, 

And  cried,  "Who  cares  for  you?" 

25 


The  mighty  giant,  as  I  spoke 

Grew  pale  and  thin  and  small; 
And  through  his  body  (as  'twere  smoke) 

I  saw  the  sunshine  fall! 

Such  giants  come  to  strike  us  dumb, 

But,   weak  in  every  part, 
They  melt  before  the  strong  man's  gaze 

And  fly  the  true  of  heart! 

Any  one  can  put  to  the  test  this  method  of  conquering 
trouble.  And  unless  any  theory  can  be  put  to  the  test — and 
can  stand  the  test — it  is,  in  this  practical  age,  absolutely  disre- 
garded. If  the  theory  is  a  good  one  the  test  will  give  a  good 
result.  If  not,  not. 

The  unselfish  frame  of  mind  is  the  object  to  be  obtained,  but 
not  everyone  who  professes  it  has  attained  it.  There  are  good 
earnest  men  who  live  as  unselfishly  as  they  can,  purely  from 
a  sense  of  duty,  who  have  never  known  one  minute  of  the  un- 
selfish disposition.  They  may  have  benefited  mankind,  they 
may  have  sacrificed  all  their  possessions,  they  may  have  given 
their  lives  to  work  in  a  leper  colony,  and  still  never  yet  have 
entered  into  the  consciousness  of  real  unselfishness. 

There  is  no  monopoly  of  this  state  of  mind.  Many  attain  to 
it  with  whom  you  might  be  ashamed  to  be  seen  talking.  Many 
miss  it  who  are  considered  the  great  and  the  good  of  the  earth. 
Little  children  can  understand  it  where  the  most  learned  some- 
times falter.  Some  seem  to  grasp  it  at  once,  without  hardly 
hearing  about  it  and  some  see  its  reality  who  have  hardly  even 
been  taught  to  look. 

You  may  have  something  that  you  would  like  to  do  first  be- 
fore you  become  unselfish.  You  may  be  afraid  that  a  sense  of 
duty  will  afterwards  prevent  you  from  doing  as  you  would 
like.  But  unselfishness  is  not  a  sense  of  duty  at  all.  It  is  just 
the  opposite,  for  the  unselfish  man  does  exactly  as  he  likes. 
He  is  the  only  man  that  is  really  free.  So  that  to  get  unselfish- 

26 


ness  as  fast  as  you  can — it  may  prove  a  slow  process  at  best — 
will  not  prevent  you  from  doing  as  you  may  have  planned  in 
the  way  you  then  want  to  do  it  when  the  time  comes  to  act. 

If  we  reach  the  unselfish  disposition  we  then  want  to  carry 
it  out.  Sacrifice  nothing.  Giving  things  up  from  a  sense  of 
duty  may  bring  you  no  whit  nearer  the  goal.  In  fact  the  feeling 
of  having  done  his  duty  well  has  hindered  many  a  man  from 
entering  into  the  unselfish  frame  of  mind.  "Duty"  is  a  chain 
which  good  people  hang  around  their  own  necks  and  which 
often  prevents  them  from  looking  upward.  It  also  enables 
them  with  a  clear  conscience  to  bind  down  others  and  to  con- 
demn in  unmeasured  terms  those  who  do  not  wear  the  same 
chain  so  gracefully. 

Similar  criticism  will  fall  on  you  the  moment  you  try  to  live 
philosophically.  There  is  no  need  to  fear  it  however.  Your 
motives  may  be  misunderstood  now  but  they  will  be  made  clear 
to  all  before  that  misunderstanding  can  hurt  you.  As  long 
as  unselfishness  is  hated,  its  votaries  will  also  be  disliked,  but 
you  may  not  consider  it  very  dreadful  to  be  disliked  on  that 
account.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  be  afraid  of  the  hate  of 
those  who  hate  the  very  idea  of  unselfishness. 

Do  not  believe  that  when  you  become  unselfish  you  will  find 
that  all  people  appreciate  you.  Far  from  it.  In  fact  even  those 
whose  esteem  you  have  already  won  may  not  understand  you 
then.  If  you  require  the  approbation  of  any  person  and  plan 
to  keep  it,  you  may  never  obtain  the  desired  state  of  mind  called 
unselfishness.  This  leads  us  to  the  true  paradox  that  he  who 
keeps,  loses ;  and  he  who  throws  away  all,  gains  all. 

We  are  bound  all  around  with  traditions.  We  are  ready  to 
quote  some  great  authority  in  condemnation  of  everything.  We 
can  find  fault  with  every  action  and  with  every  thought.  If  a 
thought  is  a  new  one  we  denounce  it  as  revolutionary ;  if  it  is 
an  old  one  we  pass  over  it  as  a  platitude.  We  demand  that  our 
own  moods  be  answered  in  everything,  and  we  forget  the  in- 
terests of  mankind,  and  so  lose  touch  with  the  Universe.  Un- 

27 


selfish  philosophy  is  the  only  remedy  for  this,  and  that  philoso- 
phy is  so  inviting  that  all  who  are  tired  of  having  the  inferior  of 
life  will  sooner  or  later  come  to  it. 

It  is  a  common  practice  to  think  how  much  better  we  are  than 
previous  generations  were.  We  assume  that  mankind  has  ad- 
vanced because  we  have  more  learning  than  our  ancestors  had. 
But  is  not  mankind  more  selfish  to-day  than  ever  ?  Once  man 
loved  honor  more  than  money.  Once  he  loved  gentleness  more 
than  fame.  How  should  we  compare  with  such  if  we  were 
judged  side  by  side?  Should  we  not  strive  to  gain  understand- 
ing enough  to  place  us  at  least  on  the  same  plane  as  our  ancestors 
were  ?  Should  we  not  seek  the  true  advancement  which  should 
place  us  on  an  even  higher  plane  ?  To-day  we  understand  more 
than  they  did  in  olden  time,  and  if  we  are  not  in  proportion 
more  unselfish  we  shall  fall  far  short  of  the  stature  obtained  by 
those  worthies. 

Those  things  we  now  strive  for  may  not  yield  us  the  satisfac- 
tion in  the  end  which  we  expect.  It  is  capable  of  mathematical 
proof  that  a  simple  breath  of  fresh  air  is  as  valuable  to  one  man 
who  takes  a  certain  amount  of  satisfaction  in  it,  as  a  monetary 
fortune  would  be  to  another  who  would  take  only  the  same  cer- 
tain amount  of  satisfaction  in  that.  The  difference  is  that  there 
is  no  selfishness  in  taking  advantage  of  the  fresh  air,  while  to 
gain  the  fortune  it  might  be  necessary  to  give  up  the  great  aim 
of  existence,  viz.,  unselfishness.  To  give  that  up  and  gain  for 
it  only  the  same  satisfaction  that  you  might  have  taken  in  the 
very  air  you  breathe  is  a  transaction  which  shows  a  loss  from 
every  point  of  view. 

Selfishness  is  not  natural ;  it  has  to  be  learned.  A  little  child 
does  not  know  how  best  to  put  it  into  effect.  But  children 
understand  love  without  being  taught.  Is  not  this  a  proof  that 
unselfishness  is  the  order  of  the  Universe  with  which  a  child  is 
in  accordance,  and  that  selfishness  is  the  hard  bias  which  a 
twisted  belief  seems  to  teach?  Children  are  often  misunder- 
stood and  bitterly  wronged  by  those  from  whom  they  have  the 

28 


best  right  to  expect  unselfish  love.  Many  a  tender  little  heart 
is  wounded  daily  by  hasty  words  of  rebuke  from  good  parents 
who  think  they  are  thus  doing  their  duty.  Those  who  thus 
pride  themselves  are  further  from  the  unselfish  standard  than 
the  children  are  whose  constant  movement  and  chattering  un- 
wittingly offend  them.  If  a  child  interrupts  you  and  you  are 
not  at  least  as  patient  with  him  as  you  would  like  him  to  be 
with  you  if  you  had  interrupted  him,  you  do  not  set  him  a  good 
example.  With  children  your  actions  will  speak  louder  than 
your  words.  The  earnest  endeavor  they  will  even  make  to  fol- 
low instructions  which  they  know  to  be  hypocritical,  which 
they  see  are  not  even  practical  enough  for  the  parent  to  prac- 
tice— should  show  us  that  the  little  children  are  on  a  higher 
plane  of  unselfishness  than  we  are.  "To  please  mamma"  they 
will  do  what  they  know  mamma  would  never  do  to  please  them. 
Men  who  are  politeness  itself  to  a  perfect  stranger  are  often 
rude  to  their  own  children.  Why?  Because  the  children  are 
too  loving  to  resent  it.  Oh,  what  a  wonderful  change  would 
come  over  the  world  if  we  were  all  as  loving,  as  meek,  as  patient 
and  as  forgiving  as  little  children  are !  Let  us  get  back  the  for- 
giving heart  of  childhood. 

Let  us  forgive.  Unless  it  is  possible  for  someone  to  make 
us  more  selfish  it  is  not  possible  for  him  to  do  us  a  real  injury. 
Even  if  a  real  injury  has  been  done  does  the  unforgiveness  and 
hope  of  revenge  make  it  any  better  ? 

The  standard  of  unselfish  philosophy  knows  no  distinctions 
between  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  unlearned,  experienced  and 
inexperienced,  talented  and  stupid.  All  are  equally  capable  of 
gaining  unselfishness,  and  the  same  grand  gain  is  to  be  attained 
by  him  who  tries  for  it  now  as  was  to  be  attained  by  him  who 
started  trying  for  it  years  ago.  Providence  is  even  handed, 
and  the  real  reward  of  life  is  impartially  available  to  all.  The 
last  man  to  go  past  the  barrier  catches  the  same  train  as  the 
man  who  has  been  waiting  for  it. 

Distinctions  of  class  grades,  of  rank,  and  differences  due  to 

29 


clothes  all  vanish  when  the  unselfish  plane  is  reached.  When 
we  discover  the  real  worth  of  our  neighbor's  heart  we  shall  for- 
get about  his  shabby  hat.  When  we  find  a  peasant  with  as 
kindly  a  disposition  as  has  a  king  we  shall  cease  to  respect  one 
more  than  the  other.  It  is  possible  to  be  unselfish  and  be  a 
domestic  servant,  and  such  an  one  is  of  a  better  and  higher  class 
than  would  be  a  selfish  society  leader — and  it  is  more  honorable 
to  be  a  friend  of  the  former  than  of  the  latter. 

Take,  for  illustration,  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  an  unselfish 
heart  but  whose  words  are  rough,  and  whose  actions  are  so  mis- 
understood that  they  seem  to  give  universal  offence.  Take  also 
the  case  of  a  man  whose  heart  is  selfish,  but  who  has  a  suave 
manner  and  manages  to  conciliate  everybody  and  become  a 
universal  favorite.  Which  of  those  two  men  has  attained  to 
the  higher  and  the  better  plane?  Undoubtedly  the  former. 
The  rough  and  ready  farmer  boy  at  home  in  the  fields  often 
gains  a  truer  insight  into  reality,  and  reaches  a  more  enviable 
mental  condition  than  the  darling  of  society,  who  already  has 
all  that  of  which  worldly  ambition  could  dream. 

Is  a  step  toward  unselfishness  a  downward  step  ?  In  a  sense, 
yes.  Down  from  the  pinnacle  of  self  esteem,  down  from  the 
mountain  top  of  personal  pleasure,  into  the  valley  of  humility, 
and  on  to  the  solid  ground  of  simple  understanding  is  the  first 
step  away  from  self.  Before  your  life  can  be  of  any  service 
to  others  this  step  must  be  taken.  Bury  your  selfish  plans  for 
the  future  with  the  dead  past,  and  rise  to  real  heights  by  the 
attainment  of  the  state  of  mind  which  is  in  touch  with  the  force 
of  the  Universe. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PEACE  BE  UNTO  YOU. 

ANTAGONISM  is  a  state  of  mind  which  troubles  those  who 
harbor  it.  It  is  often  knocking  at  the  door  of  man's  conscious- 
ness, and  the  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  see  if  the  false  anger- 
microbe  can  be  permanently  kept  out,  so  that  we  can  each  go  our 
own  way  in  peace. 

Professional  lawyers  sometimes  encourage  people  to  fight 
each  other  who  would  do  much  better  to  settle  their  differences 
amicably.  Lawyers  are  generally  the  very  nicest  of  people  per- 
sonally, but  the  system  of  civilized  fighting,  which  it  is  their 
living  to  keep  up,  blinds  them  to  the  desirableness  of  peace.  As 
well  send  a  soldier  with  red  uniform  and  bayonet  complete  to 
soothe  the  anger  of  an  incensed  nation  as  engage  a  lawyer  to 
get  you  that  personal  peace  which  you  may  feel  is  threatened. 
The  best  lawyer  is  always  he  who  refuses  to  let  his  client  fight, 
but  settles  the  case  instead  on  the  best  terms  he  can  get. 

Peace  is  rest  from  discord.  It  is  something  more  than  a  con- 
dition or  quality;  it  is  substantial  and  valuable.  There  is  no 
peace  or  truce  between  positive  and  negative  voltage,  but  there  is 
perfect  harmony  between  all  the  different  manifestations  of  the 
positive,  and,  therefore,  man's  real  existence  can  be  logically 
proved  to  be  a  peaceful  one.  It  is  impossible  that  a  man  living 
a  positive  existence  should  hate  another  man,  or  desire  to  ruin 

31 


him.  Even  the  man  who  is  allowing  himself  to  be  a  receiver  for 
negative  thoughts — malice,  envy  or  selfishness — is  not  himself 
a  fit  subject  for  the  hate  or  spirit  of  retaliation  of  another.  He 
is  his  own  severest  punishment,  and  will  continue  to  be  until  that 
negative  tendency  is  destroyed.  He  is  to  be  pitied,  and  while 
the  positive  can  have  no  sympathy  with  the  negative,  yet  the 
victim  of  the  negative  thought  is  still  a  brother. 

What  are  the  considerations  which  lead  to  quarrels,  coldness, 
and  sometimes  law  suits?  Suspicion  of  another's  motives  is 
one,  personal  pride  and  what  is  known  as  "firmness,"  are  others. 
Some  people  go  about  "knocking  chips  off  shoulders,"  or  "trend- 
ing on  coat-tails."  Others  very  carefully  trail  their  coat-tails 
where  it  is  almost  impossible  to  avoid  treading  on  them.  It  is 
sometimes  very  hard  to  be  unselfish  and  forgiving,  and  it  some- 
times seems  as  if  one  must  fight  to  protect  the  rights  of  others 
for  which  he  thinks  himself  responsible.  Again,  the  difference 
between  equitable  rights  and  rights  conferred  by  Statute  often 
leads  to  long  and  bitter  fights.  He  who  has  the  side  of  equitable 
right  feels  that  he  would  be  yielding  wrongly  were  he  to  give 
in,  while  he  who  has  a  statutory  right  but  who  is  by  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  case  placed  in  the  wrong  equitably,  feels 
certain  of  winning,  and  so  is  disinclined  to  give  up. 

To  all  who  have  good  cause  to  quarrel,  and  to  all  who  feel 
inclined  to  quarrel  without  cause,  the  new  philosophy  brings  the 
same  message,  namely,  to  look  at  the  higher  interest  of  the 
whole  body,  and  not  at  selfish  interests.  Peace  is  not  attained  by 
laboring  for  temporary  results.  To  give  up  the  temporary 
strife  is  not  weakness,  but  shows  real  strength. 

There  is  only  one  aim  of  all  men,  namely,  to  grow  into  the 
highest  possible  being.  There  is  only  one  highest  plane  of 
being,  and  those  whose  steps  are  pointed  thither  all  travel  the 
same  highway.  In  that  aim  and  on  that  highway  there  is  no 
room  for  personal  quarrels.  Not  only  are  personal  quarrels  a 
silly  waste  of  time,  but  they  are  always  entirely  misconceived 
on  both  sides,  and  are  due  to  misunderstandings.  For  it  must 

32 


be  obvious  that  the  one  real  object  of  your  opponent  is  the  same 
as  yours,  namely,  the  advancement  of  man  to  the  higher  plane. 
Until  positive  thought  has  banished  the  sense  of  the  negative, 
and  harmony  and  truth  reign  supreme  on  Earth  there  is  much 
real  work  to  be  done.  Every  consciousness  enlisted  on  the  side 
of  philosophy  will  exercise  a  great  and  increasing  power.  It 
is,  therefore,  desirable  that  more  and  more  should  be  enlisted 
in  the  work  of  thinking  positive  thoughts  only.  Finding  fault, 
quarrelling  and  fighting  is  a  waste  of  the  precious  time  we 
might  be  using  to  advance  the  general  thought,  to  banish  dis- 
cord and  to  rise  to  a  more  philosophic  plane. 


33 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MODERN    MOLECHS. 

THE  selfish  things  of  life  seem  so  delightful  in  the  vista  of 
the  future  that  it  is  hard  to  take  our  eyes  off  the  picture  to  view 
the  more  permanent  facts.  Especially  is  there  a  tendency 
among  mortals  to  see  pleasure  (where  there  are  only  illusions) 
in  several  well-defined  directions. 

First  comes  the  hope  of  satisfying  the  appetites.  That  this 
hope  is  illusory  is  proved  by  the  fact,  already  experienced  by 
every  one,  that  sweets  cloy  the  taste,  and  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  in  existence  as  a  satisfied  appetite.  In  other  words,  if 
there  were  satisfaction,  it  would  destroy  the  appetite  and  leave — 
nothing.  This  hope  of  satisfaction  is  then  merely  a  hope  of  ob- 
taining— nothing. 

Then  there  is  a  selfish  tendency  in  the  world  to  seek  ease  and 
pleasure  at  the  expense  of  future  generations.  Men  shirk 
fatherhood  to  obtain  more  pleasure,  and  thus  often  become  in- 
capable of  being  fathers.  A  great  decline  in  the  birth  rate 
among  civilized  people  is  the  result  of  this  shirking  and  this 
incapacity.  Does  this  hope  of  ease  and  comfort  materialize? 
Do  men  actually  find  ease  and  comfort  through  childlessness? 
Surely  it  must  be  very  much  the  reverse  of  comfortable  to  live 
a  childless  life,  and  spend  one's  old  age  in  vain  regrets  for  the 
bright  and  happy  faces  and  loving  hearts  that  might  have  been ! 

34 


This  does  not  apply  to  those  who  give  up  personal  fatherhood 
when  they  outgrow  everything  personal,  but  only  to  those  who 
shirk  it  to  obtain  ease  and  self-gratification. 

Those  who  have  just  become  rich  want  honors  and  perhaps 
titles.  They  want  to  get  in  the  social  swim,  and  shine  in  the 
society  columns  of  the  newspapers.  Is  this  a  worthy  ambi- 
tion? Is  its  accomplishment  ever  satisfactory?  The  answer 
which  one  of  these  ambitious  ones  would  give  might  be,  "I  can- 
not say  that  social  success  has  proved  satisfactory  to  anyone  yet, 
but  I  do  not  see  why  it  should  not  in  my  case."  That  is  the  cry 
of  the  whole  world — "My  case!"  If  a  rule  could  only  be 
found  whereby  each  one  could  know  in  advance  if  his  aim 
would  really  yield  good  results,  what  an  advantage  that  would 
be!  The  test  philosophy  suggests  is  a  stringent  one,  and  the 
question  asked  is  whether  the  aim  is  absolutely  unselfish.  By 
that  standard  can  we  judge,  and  much  fruitless  toil  and  heart- 
breaking anxiety  can  be  saved  if  we  immediately  drop  any  aim 
or  plan  which  does  not  come  up  to  this  standard.  Social  suc- 
cess is  not  an  unselfish  aim  for  any  man  or  woman.  It  de- 
pends for  its  success  on  separateness,  which  is  the  opposite  of 
unselfishness.  Only  one  in  many  who  try  for  it  is  successful, 
and  that  one  finds  it  unsatisfactory  when  obtained. 

I  pass  over  the  more  grossly  selfish  aims  of  man.  Here  one 
is  scheming  to  oust  another  man  and  get  his  position,  there  one 
is  intriguing  to  trick  others  out  of  their  money  or  goods  or 
reputations.  He  is  not  even  in  the  a  b  c  of  philosophy  who 
imagines  that  such  aims  can  lead  to  any  good  for  himself  or 
anybody. 

Another  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  the  subject  of  healing,  but 
it  is  surely  a  very  striking  exhibition  of  modern  Molech  wor- 
ship to  see  the  power  that  is  ascribed  to  the  dread  giant  called 
"Disease."  High  and  low  seem  to  quake  in  their  shoes  before 
him.  He  is  said  to  threaten  everywhere,  and  we  are  warned  to 
obey  countless  rules  constantly  contradicting  themselves  on  pain 
of  falling  into  his  clutches.  We  must  not  get  into  a  draught  for 

35 


fear  of  "catching  cold'*  (whatever  that  may  be!),  and,  also,  we 
must  get  into  a  draught  so  that  we  may  breathe  fresh  air  and  so 
escape  "consumption,"  etc.,  etc.  The  high  priests  of  this  wor- 
ship fill  our  newspapers  with  their  terrible  warnings  and  humil- 
iating testimonals,  and  unless  we  lay  ourselves  on  the  pill  and 
drug  altar,  they  prophesy  evil,  ad  libitum  ad  nauseum. 

Fashion  is  an  idol  which  holds  the  world  in  a  grasp  of  iron. 
Its  devotees  spend  their  lives  in  its  service.  Beyond  the  inner 
circle  of  its  worshippers  are  those  who  give  not  quite  all  their 
time,  but  quite  all  their  money  trying  to  keep  pace  with  the 
leaders.  Beyond  these  are  the  people  who  merely  try  to  avoid 
criticism  by  laying  a  portion  of  their  income  at  the  feet  of  this 
idol.  Some  men  wear  high  silk  hats,  and  some  women  go  about 
in  long  skirts  which  sweep  up  the  filth  from  the  ground.  Men 
wear  gold  chains  and  women  compress  their  waists  with  strong 
cords — the  badges  of  slavery  to  fashion.  If  only  a  little  prog- 
ress out  of  this  bondage  could  be  seen  as  year  after  year  goes 
by  there  would  be  a  hope  of  complete  freedom.  Only  the  grad- 
ual coming  of  real  unselfish  philosophy  to  man  will  free  him 
from  this  and  every  other  kind  of  bondage. 

In  some  places  the  weather  is  a  veritable  idol.  Lowering 
skies,  cold  winds,  sleet  or  fog  exercise  a  greater  power  over 
mind  than  many  a  philosophic  truth  does.  The  latter  would 
be  dismissed  as  a  mere  platitude,  while  the  threatening  of  the 
weather  would  be  considered  real  and  imminent.  We  forget 
that  sunshine  in  the  heart  is  more  important  than  sunshine  in 
the  street,  and  that  the  dew  of  kindness  occupies  a  more  real 
place  than  dew  on  our  lawns.  In  the  same  way  the  whirlwind 
within  finds  us  out  in  a  softer  spot  than  an  outward  whirlwind 
could,  and  we  come  to  see  that  the  real  weather  is  of  the  mind. 
He  lives  in  the  sunshine  who  has  sunshine  within,  and  he  who 
realizes  his  inward  weather  ceases  to  care  for  the  outward  rain. 

Poverty  is  the  "biggest  bogeyman  of  all."  To  most  people 
"poverty"  means  "ruin."  Poverty  is  feared  so  greatly  that  men 
commit  all  kinds  of  crime  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  this 

36 


supposed  fiend.  Those  who  do  not  cringe  before  this  Molech 
are  considered  mad,  and  the  extraordinary  being  who  does  not 
mind  being  poor  in  goods  and  chattels  is  pitied  for  his  "lack 
of  intellect."  Emerson  was  considered  a  dreamer  because  he 
wrote  the  beautiful  lines : 

He  who  has  little  to  him  who  has  less  can  spare, 
And  thou,  Cyndalion's  son,  beware 
Ponderous  gold  and  stuffs  to  bear, 
To  falter  'ere  thou  thy  task  fulfil, 
Only  the  light  armed  climb  the  hill! 

But  real  riches  are  those  of  character.  To  lose  all  "pon- 
derous gold  and  stuffs"  would  be  of  no  comparative  importance. 
To  gain  "gold  and  stuffs"  beyond  count  would  not  weigh 
against  the  gain  of  a  single  unselfish  inspiration.  To  fear 
poverty  all  your  life  and  feel  a  slave  to  that  fear  is  a  kind  of 
bondage  or  worship  which  will  result  in  no  real  gain.  Who 
can  doubt  that  he  is  rich  who  is  rich  inwardly,  and  that  he  is 
poor  who  is  mean,  low  spirited  and  crabbed,  whatever  his  store 
of  gold? 


37 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   ATTITUDE    OF    HEALTH. 

THE  philosophy  that  a  healthy  mind  makes  a  healthy  body 
is  one  which  has  been  submitted  to  practical  tests. 

As  the  higher  voltage  always  governs  the  lower,  so  the 
heart,  lungs,  liver,  or  whatever  may  be  out  of  order  has  in  each 
case  been  made  so  by  an  atmosphere  of  negative  thought.  To 
absolutely  cure  these  embodied  negative  thoughts  it  is  only 
necessary  to  produce  such  an  atmosphere  of  positive  thought 
that  the  great  shadow  called  disease  will  fade  away. 

To  put  it  another  way,  anything  which  is  inharmonious  is  not 
a  thing  which  is  caused  by  the  real  forces  of  existence.  There 
is  no  real  unit  of  disease  and  crime.  Consequently  we  can 
have  no  logical  grounds  for  believing  in  their  existence  as 
separate  entities.  What  then  are  they?  Partly  feeling,  partly 
belief,  partly  lack  of  strength. 

Then  the  cure  would  be  to  change  the  belief,  or  rather  sub- 
stitute the  knowledge  of  the  harmonious  for  it,  and  give 
strength.  Both  these  can  be  done  mentally.  Strength  of  mind 
makes  strength  of  body.  Knowledge  of  positive  harmony  is 
contagious.  Any  disease  is  capable  of  being  banished,  and  all 
of  them  are  subject  to  the  same  influence. 

This  is  not  mere  theory.  Many  chronic  and  obstinate  cases 
have  yielded  to  the  "healthy  mind"  cure.  If  philosophy  could 

38 


not  be  of  practical  service  to  us,  there  would  be  little  to  hope  for 
from  the  lesser  sciences. 

Positive  philosophy  is  the  best  thought,  because  it  under- 
stands the  problems  of  life.  It  fills  us  with  a  power  for  good. 
It  is  not  hypnotism,  spiritualism  or  any  such  thing.  These  lat- 
ter are  merely  the  imitations  of  the  reality. 

Philosophy  drives  away  the  sullen  humors,  the  mad  pessi- 
mism which  afflicts  mankind.  If  it  did  nothing  else  this  would 
be  a  service  to  humanity  which  ought  to  be  more  completely 
recognized.  More  unhappiness  comes  from  low-spiritedness 
than  from  all  other  things  put  together.  Here  at  least  philos- 
ophy is  valuable.  You  must  admit  this  when  once  you  have 
tried  it. 

A  fever  is  subject  to  philosophy.  A  fever  of  worry  some- 
times brings  on  a  fever  of  the  blood,  as  it  is  called ;  and  in  fact 
fever  must  attack  the  mind  first,  because  thus  only  can  it  ever 
reach  the  body.  Philosophy  is  the  direct  opponent  of  worry 
and  fear,  and  worry  and  fear  are  the  primary  roots  of  fever. 

Many  diseases  arise  from  the  sense  of  matter  out  of  place, 
or  as  it  might  be  said,  the  sense  of  dirt.  From  chicken-pox  to 
leprosy,  whether  in  those  who  wash  often  or  seldom,  the  vic- 
tims have  found  themselves  in  a  mental  environment  of  a  lack 
of  perfect  cleanliness.  Philosophy  is  the  only  remedy  for  this 
environment.  There  can  be  no  voltage  or  vibration  out  of 
place.  If  we  could  understand  the  perfect  and  harmonious 
throbbing  of  the  real  voltage  of  the  universe  we  would  rid  our 
minds  of  the  sense  of  uncleanness,  and  thus  learn  to  banish 
from  our  bodies  boils,  colds,  abscesses,  eczema  and  cancers. 

Weariness,  anemia  and  paralysis  arise  from  a  sense  of  weak- 
ness. Forgetting  the  continuity  of  the  highest  voltage  through- 
out nature,  the  victim  feels  that  he  is  not  properly  held  to- 
gether. A  clear  thought  of  the  fundamental  unit  of  existence 
will  soon  show  him  where  strength  really  lies.  He  must  first 
get  weakness,  discouragement  and  hopelessness  out  of  his  mind 
before  he  can  expect  to  get  them  out  of  his  body.  Strength 

39 


is  everywhere  pulsating  in  the  highest  voltage  of  energy,  and 
there  can  be  nothing  to  prevent  any  man  or  woman  from  tak- 
ing full  advantage  of  it. 

One  may  ask  whether  it  is  better  to  try  and  learn  patience 
by  suffering,  or  to  banish  the  suffering  by  thinking  good 
thoughts.  You  say  the  latter,  but  you  add  that  it  is  not  so  easy 
to  keep  your  mind  concentrated  on  good  thoughts  as  it  sounds. 
In  such  a  case  can  it  be  the  proper  course  to  refuse  the  oppor- 
tunity of  having  another  lead  you  by  thinking  good  thoughts 
with  you? 

Logically  there  is  no  limit  to  this  force.  Those  who  have 
been  healed  can  afterwards  heal  others,  and  it  is  also  found  of 
great  assistance  in  various  troubles.  If  everyone  in  trouble  of 
any  kind  would  only  come  to  philosophy  for  help  what  a  dif- 
ferent world  it  would  be ! 

Philosophy  heals  trouble,  but  it  will  not  serve  any  selfish  end. 
Those  who  wish  for  independent  wealth  or  other  means  of 
gratifying  themselves  can  not  hope  to  obtain  them  through 
philosophy.  And  yet  those  are  the  very  people  who  can  benefit 
most  by  this  study  because  it  will  show  them  something  more 
desirable  than  self-gratification.  That  higher  desire  will  then 
so  grow  upon  them  that  the  lesser  feeling  will  be  lost  altogether. 

Children  can  understand  this  healing  power  as  well  as  grown 
people.  To  them  it  seems  more  natural  to  get  well  than  to  get 
ill,  to  heal  by  good  thoughts  than  not  to  do  so.  They  can 
understand  that  the  atom  or  unit  of  existence  is  the  unit  of 
unselfish  good,  although  they  may  not  understand  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words  used  to  explain  that  fact. 

Philosophy  banishes  angry  feelings.  What  does  pride  or 
self-interest  matter  to  the  man  who  feels  that  he  has  found 
something  better  ? 

At  the  same  time  it  is  as  well  to  avoid  quarrelsome  people. 
Sooner  or  later  they  too  will  be  influenced  by  philosophy,  but 
in  the  meantime  let  us  not,  if  we  can  help  it,  come  within  the 
sphere  of  their  negative  thought. 

40 


Philosophy  is  safe.  No  harm  can  come  from  thinking  un- 
selfish thoughts.  If  fear  were  banished  from  our  lives  we 
should  cease  to  worry,  and  would  find  that  nothing  could  really 
hurt  us.  Complicated  situations  would  become  simplified,  and 
the  threatening  evil  would  destroy  itself.  Let  turmoil  and 
trouble  "boil  and  bubble"  as  much  as  they  like,  they  can  only 
attack  selfishness,  injure  themselves,  and  clear  the  way  for  real 
advancement. 

In  every  trouble,  disease,  wrong  mental  tendency  or  fear 
philosophy  can  radically  aid  you  and  also  give  you  the  key  or 
clue  whereby  you  can  thereafter  aid  yourself. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LOVE. 

WHETHER  gravitation  is  a  pulling  or  pushing  force  the 
student  of  physics  recognizes  it  as  the  mainspring  of  physical 
life.  In  like  manner  the  student  of  metaphysics  must  recog- 
nize that  social  or  human  life  hinges  upon  the  attraction  between 
the  two  sexes. 

We  are  apt  to  make  a  mountain  out  of  a  molehill  when  speak- 
ing of  this  question  by  refusing  to  look  it  square  in  the  face, 
but  after  all  the  day  has  gone  by  when  false  delicacy  pretended 
that  there  was  anything  sensational  in  the  simple  facts  of  the 
case. 

Man,  who  is  capable  of  expressing  the  highest  voltage  or 
vibration  of  the  Universe,  finds  himself  divided  into  male  and 
female.  And  as  man,  or  entity,  includes  all  things,  we  can 
trace  this  division  everywhere.  There  is  but  one  male  and 
one  female.  Separate  bodies  do  not  mean  separate  spirits. 
Personal  attachments  which  do  not  recognize  good  qualities 
are  almost  unimaginable,  for  a  man  loves  female  qualities. 
A  woman  loves  male  qualities,  and  it  is  the  sum  of  these  male 
qualities  which  constitute  her  ideal  and  her  king,  and  it  is  the 
sum  of  these  which  constitute  MAN. 

Love  is  not  interested  in  taking  unto  itself — but  its  desire  is 

42 


to  give.  No  woman  need  mourn  because  she  finds  the  chosen 
partner  of  her  joys  and  sorrows  does  not  manifest  all  the  male 
qualities — is  not  a  complete  man.  She  can  still  give  him  her 
love,  and  that  giving  is  joy.  Neither  should  she  mind  if  other 
women  exhibit  some  female  qualities  more  plainly  to  her  hus- 
band than  she  does.  If  he  loves  the  whole  sum  of  female 
qualities  with  all  his  heart  she  will  be  glad  for  him  to  see 
beauties  in  every  new  acquaintance.  Jealousy  does  not  spring 
from  love,  but  from  the  sense  of  possession  or  ownership.  "No 
trespassers  allowed"  is  not  the  sign  an  unselfish  man  puts  up  on 
his  pleasure  grounds.  But  perfect  liberty  does  not  mean 
license.  The  tie  of  love  is  a  thousand  times  stronger  than  any 
tie  of  possession  can  be,  and  it  never  made  a  man  leave  or  neg- 
lect his  family  to  have  his  liberty  recognized. 

The  great  truth  is  that  no  man  is  a  man  until  he  has  com- 
pletely conquered  himself,  or,  as  some  would  say,  outgrown 
selfishness.  Until  a  man  has  conquered  the  swinish  element  in 
his  own  nature,  he  is  not  a  man.  Until  he  has  conquered  lust 
he  is  not  a  man.  Until  he  can  control  himself  under  all  circum- 
stances he  is  not  a  man.  No  race  of  men  are  free  or  even  know 
what  liberty  means  when  they  still  thrust  unwelcome  and  un- 
planned children  upon  their  own  homes.  The  once  popular 
notion  that  it  is  right  to  lose  control  of  yourself  in  your  own 
family,  although  it  would  be  wrong  anywhere  else,  was  de- 
grading in  the  extreme. 

The  complete  man  loves  with  a  strong  fire.  He  loves  femi- 
ninity. His  love  is  not  that  which  desires  to  possess  another  per- 
son to  love  himself  with,  but  he  loves  his  Queen  with  a  pure  un- 
selfish love.  His  Queen  is  seen  by  him  most  of  course  in  the 
eyes  of  her  he  chooses  for  his  home  companion,  but  even  if  he 
can  never  see  anything  in  any  other  eyes  it  is  not  the  personality 
that  he  loves  but  the  spirit;  not  the  points  wherein  she  is  dif- 
ferent from  the  female  spirit  of  nature,  nor  any  other  points 
about  that  separate  individuality — but  the  female  spirit  of 
nature  herself  shining  through  her.  The  complete  man  does  not 

43 


offer  an  insult  to  his  Queen  by  thinking  he  can  possess  her.  Per- 
sonal sense  has  a  desire  which  is  not  love,  but  its  very  opposite. 
Personal  sense,  building  a  wall  around  its  possessions,  some- 
times poses  as  love.  This  is  not  love  but  insult.  The  young  girl 
sees  her  ideal  in  some  man,  but  let  her  beware !  His  love,  if  he  is 
not  a  whole  man,  is  not  love  but  poison.  Instead  of  finding  her 
King  she  may  find  her  assassin,  for  the  sting  of  the  man  who 
has  not  conquered  or  grown  out  of  self  will  prove  a  bitter 
awakening  from  the  dream  that  such  a  man  could  really  love. 

The  spirit  which  woman  loves  pervades  the  strong  natures 
who  have  conquered  self.  He  is  brave  and  strong  but  gentle. 
He  could  not  touch  his  Queen  irreverently  nor  harm  her  in  the 
smallest  particular.  Married  or  not  he  could  not  take  any 
advantage  of  her.  His  blood  flows  with  the  regularity  of  per- 
fect self-poise,  and  no  spasmodic  or  uncontrolled  moment  is 
possible  to  him. 

This  love  is  more  than  a  passing  fancy.  It  is  a  lifetime  de- 
votion. Man  loves  woman.  He  always  has  and  he  always  will. 
That  sweet  spirit  of  his  true  mate  always  appeals  to  him,  and 
his  inevitable  love  for  Her,  wherever  seen,  is  pure. 

How  lovely  the  spirit  of  woman  is !  What  grace  and  balm 
she  pours  into  man's  waiting  heart !  What  a  sweetness  to  give 
her  the  regeneration  of  love  when  she  opens  her  soul  to  receive ! 

This  is  the  joy  of  life.  To  the  loving  bride-heart  of  the  great 
Universe — perhaps  manifested  to  you  in  a  single  pair  of  laugh- 
ing eyes — to  give  of  your  real  life,  pure  love.  And  as  you  give, 
so  the  fountain  will  well  up  within  you  so  that  you  can  give 
more  and  more  and  more,  pressing  on  to  greater  and  greater 
joy. 

In  the  positive  existence,  where  the  pride  of  intellect  is 
thrown  aside,  where  the  mortal  sense  of  love  is  seen  in  its  true 
light  and  known  for  the  monster  it  is,  and  where  personalities 
either  of  like  or  dislike  are  forgotten,  the  radiance  of  real  love 
shines  in  immortal  glory. 

Here  and  now,  on  the  solid  Earth,  we  are  spending  eternity. 

44 


It  is  no  ethereal  halo  which  glorifies  the  divinity  of  man,  or  the 
divinity  of  woman.  Love  is  not  a  quality  of  the  imagination, 
but  it  is  THE  real  thing.  It  is  THE  substance.  Shutting  our 
eyes  to  this  fact  in  our  self-conscious  mortal  wisdom  we  shut 
out  the  realities  of  everyday  life.  That  nightmare  or  negative 
dream  holds  us  spellbound  until  love  breaks  through  the  clouds 
and  we  discover  that  our  lives  are  really  bathed  in  the  sunshine 
of  imperishable  beauty  and  harmony. 

Man  and  woman  are  the  bride  and  bridegroom  of  the  Uni- 
verse !  These  two  Spirits — which  two  are  one — are  forever 
coming  together — forever  loving.  That  love  has  no  taint  of 
self  in  it,  nor  can  anyone  consciously  rise  into  that  love  till 
self  be  dethroned,  debased  and  destroyed.  You  who  have  am- 
bitions to  get,  to  learn,  or  even  to  rise,  must  die.  Until  self 
dies  Love  cannot  live  in  you. 

This  message  of  love  is  not  addressed  to  the  self-conscious  or 
mortal  mind.  Nothing  can  ever  save  self,  and  it  can  never  even 
understand  love.  The  self-conscious  mind  knows  not  liberty. 
It  must  be  curbed  and  hedged  about  with  laws,  customs,  duties 
and  influences.  It  has  no  right  to  love  except  in  a  certain 
channel,  and  even  there  its  love  is  no  love  at  all  but  desire. 
Out  in  the  world  of  selfish  ambitions  liberty  would  be  license. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  self  freedom,  for  bondage  itself  is  the 
thing  that  self  or  separateness  is. 

The  realization  that  love  is  all,  and  in  all,  makes  us  free. 
Then  man  becomes  man,  and  his  swaddling  clothes — which  he 
thought  were  him — drop  off.  If  we  think  self  is  the  man,  we 
are  still  groping  in  darkness,  tottering  in  infancy  and  mourning 
in  sadness. 

Divine  love  is  so  wonderful  that  the  fact  that  it  IS  seems  too 
good  to  be  true.  And  when  self  is  dead  and  the  Bridegroom 
meeteth  the  Bride  in  the  everlasting  splendor  of  that  great 
coming  together,  joy  IS.  Yes,  joy  so  great  that  our  bodies 
could  not  bear  it  were  not  our  strength  regenerated  by  the 
omnipotent  power  of  that  same  Divine  love. 

45 


The  crown  of  Love  is  to  him  that  overcometh.  The  Queen 
of  life  cannot  be  loved  by  those  who  have  not  learned  to  love 
the  very  valley  of  humiliation  itself.  All  kinds  of  pride — 
pride  of  race,  pride  of  birth,  pride  of  intellect,  yes,  even  pride 
of  your  amiable  disposition — must  be  trampled  underfoot.  If 
self  could  ever  get  into  Life  there  would  be  nothing  to  leave  be- 
hind or  outgrow,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  train  it  up  in 
the  way  it  should  go — improving  it  here  and  educating  it  there. 
But  a  great  battle  is  in  progress.  The  monster  of  Seeming  is 
in  the  lists  against  man.  The  queen  of  the  tournament  is  the 
Queen  of  Life.  He  who  conquers  self,  by  loving,  conquers  all, 
and  he  is  her  King  whom  she  loves. 

Love  conquers  hardships — when  they  are  loved  they  are  no 
longer  hard.  Love  conquers  even  hell  itself,  for  when  hell  is 
loved  it  becomes  heaven.  The  real  lover  is  the  real  conqueror, 
and  when  he  comes  to  his  Queen  she  crowns  him  with  the  fade- 
less crown  of  his  sublime  victory.  That  crown  is  LOVE. 

Love  is  the  motive,  love  is  the  strength,  love  is  the  victory, 
and  love  is  the  reward.  Of  love,  and  to  love,  and  in  love  are 
all  realities,  and  when  love  becomes  real  to  us  we  then  have — 
and  not  till  then— CONSCIOUS  LIFE. 

This  life  is  not  up  above  the  clouds.  Here  in  the  flesh  Life 
manifests  Itself,  and  here  in  the  flesh  we  can  feel,  if  we  forget 
self,  the  palpitations  of  real  love  stirring  within  our  fleshly 
bodies. 

Away  with  all  imaginations !  The  realities  of  existence  are 
here  in  our  lives,  in  our  bodies ;  they  are  now,  and  not  in  the 
past  or  future.  The  sweet  girl  nature  of  the  Universe  is  the 
present  substantial  reality  to  the  heart  of  man.  She  is  not  an 
imaginary  creature  with  wings,  and  lips  too  good  or  too  ethereal 
to  be  touched.  She  is  his  sweetheart,  his  bride.  Each  man 
may  see  her  in  a  different  face,  but  she  is  one  indivisible  love- 
liness, casting  an  effulgence  of  ineffable  delight,  while  she  re- 
ceives the  fire  of  man's  love,  so  that  man  and  woman  are  to- 
gether transformed. 

46 


When  we  wake  up  to  the  Ever-presence  there  are  pleasures 
forevermore.  Not  the  pleasures  of  sense,  but  the  immortal 
joys  of  love.  Not  the  joys  of  getting  love,  but  the  joys  of  lov- 
ing. Loving  is  the  most  sublime  joy  conceivable.  Loving  IS 
joy. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


SEP   11   J940 

":  g 

M 

$ 

BT£?| 

«S5^1HS38I!iflR3§ 

LD  21-100m-7,'39(402s) 

"il 


